Methods: In this exploratory qualitative study, two focus group discussion (15 teachers) and 30 individual in-depth interviews were conducted among female adolescents in the eighth grade in Zahedan, Iran. Qualitative content analysis was used for data evaluation.
Results: The views of students and teachers demonstrated nine of needs including: informing students about the schools' health project aims, education and training all dimensions of health with an emphasis on mental health, use of experts in various fields for education from other organisations, employing capable and trusted counselors in schools, utilisation of a variety of teaching methods, activating reward systems for encouraging students' participation in group activities, teaching communication and the ability to establish good relationships with parents and strategies for resolving family conflict, teaching parents and students high-risk behaviours and strategies for handling them as well as reforming wrong attitudes and indigenous sub-culture.
Conclusion: This study found the different needs of Iranian female students compared to other cultures about a health promoting school programme. Therefore, their contribution can provide an insight for formulating policies and intervention in schools.
METHODS: A quasi experimental interventional study involving 166 non-smokers adolescents, aged 13 to 14 years old were carried out in two schools located in two different suburbs. Both schools had equal number of participants. One school was given the smoking prevention module for intervention while the control school only received the module after the study had been completed. The knowledge on smoking and its harmful effects and smoking refusal skill score were assessed using a set of validated Malay questionnaires at baseline, two weeks and eight weeks after the intervention. Repeated measure ANCOVA was used to analyse the mean score difference of both groups at baseline and after intervention.
RESULT: Baseline analysis shows no significant difference in knowledge score between the study groups (p = 0.713) while post intervention, it shows significant inclination of knowledge score in intervention group and the difference was significant after controlling the gender [F(df) = 15.96(1.5), p <0.001]. The mean baseline for refusal skills score in the control and intervention groups were 30.89(6.164) and 28.02(6.241) respectively (p= 0.003). Post intervention, there is a significant difference in the crude mean and the estimated marginal means for smoking refusal skills score between the two groups after controlling for sex [F(df) = 5.66(1.8), p = 0.005].
CONCLUSION: This smoking prevention module increased the level of knowledge on smoking and its harmful effects and smoking refusal skill among the secondary school students. Thus, it is advocated to be used as one of the standard modules to improve the current method of teaching in delivering knowledge related to harmful effects of smoking and smoking refusal skill to the adolescents in Malaysia.
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METHODS/DESIGN: This quasi-experimental study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of the SNP between intervention and comparison groups before and after the SNP, and after a 3-month follow-up. The SNP consisted of two main components, whereby three nutrition education sessions were implemented by trained teachers using three standardised modules, and healthy school food environment was implemented by the canteen food handlers with the provision of healthy menu to children during school recess times. Children from intervention group participated in the SNP, in addition to the standard Physical and Health Curriculum. The comparison group attended only the standardised Physical and Health Curriculum and the school canteen food handlers were reminded to follow the standard canteen guidelines from the Ministry of Education Malaysia. The assessment parameters in evaluating the effectiveness of the programme were knowledge, attitude and practice on nutrition, eating behaviours, physical activity, body composition, psychological distress, cognitive performance and health-related quality of life. Assessments were conducted at three time points: pre-intervention, post-intervention and 3-month follow-up.
DISCUSSION: It was hypothesised that the SNP would be effective in promoting healthy lifestyle among school children, and further contributes in preventing malnutrition problem, enhancing cognitive performance and improving health-related quality of life among school children. Findings of the present study can be expanded to other schools in future on ways to improve nutrition education and healthy school food environment.
TRIAL REGISTRATION: UMIN Clinical Trial Registration UMIN000032914 (Date of registration: 7th June 2018, retrospectively registered).
PROTOCOL VERSION: 16th September 2019 & Version 4.
METHODS: Articles were found in the Medline database using the key words "paediatrics", "urine screening", "proteinuria", "haematuria" and "population". The Asian countries which had carried out population-based urinary screening of the paediatric population included Taiwan, Japan and Korea. One study was found on urinary screening in a select population in Malaysia. Preliminary results of the urinary screening of school children in Singapore are presented and compared with the results found in the above-mentioned countries.
RESULTS: Overall, the proportion of children found to have urinary abnormalities ranged from less than 0.1% of the population screened to almost 50% of a select cohort referred from the screening programmes for the evaluation of urinary abnormalities. In the pilot Singapore school screening programme, the prevalence of clinically significant proteinuria was 1.25 per 1000 children screened. Multivariate analysis showed that low body weight was associated with a 1.8-fold greater risk for proteinuria. The major cause of haematuria and proteinuria in those studies where renal biopsies were performed was glomerulonephritis. The Taiwanese experience also showed a reduction in the incidence of end-stage renal failure diagnosed in children after the onset of urine screening.
CONCLUSION: These studies showed that urinary screening programmes in school children allow the early detection of disease. The cost-benefit ratio for specific populations should be determined before the implementation of such programmes.
METHODS: Recurrent abdominal pain was defined as at least three episodes of abdominal pain, severe enough to affect a child's activities over a period longer than 3 months. A health-care consulter was defined as a child who had been brought to see a doctor regarding recurrent abdominal pain at least once in the past year. Children aged between 9 and 15 years were randomly chosen from schools in the city of Petaling Jaya, given questionnaires to fill in and interviewed to determine whether they fulfilled the above criteria for having symptoms of recurrent abdominal pain and for being a consulter. Bivariate analysis and multiple logistic regression analysis were performed on the data obtained.
RESULTS: One hundred and forty-three (9.61%) children fulfilled the criteria for recurrent abdominal pain out of a total of 1488 schoolchildren interviewed. There were 65 (45.5%) consulters and 78 (54.5%) non-consulters. Among the consulters, the male to female ratio was 1:1.4, while among the non-consulters, the ratio was 1:1.1. On bivariate analysis, the Chinese had a significantly lower likelihood to consult a doctor (P = 0.02), while the other two races did not show any increase in consultation (Malays, P = 0.08; Indians, P = 0.21). Among those with severe pain, there was a significantly higher prevalence of consulters (P < 0.01). Furthermore, those whose sleep was interrupted by abdominal pain were more likely to consult (P < 0.01). Children who had consulted a doctor were more likely to be missing school because of abdominal pain (P < 0.01). Following multiple logistic regression analysis, ethnicity was no longer a significant predictor.
CONCLUSIONS: Approximately 45.5% of schoolchildren with recurrent abdominal pain in an urban setting were brought to see a doctor. Predictors of recent health-care consultation were school absence, pain severity and interruption of sleep caused by abdominal pain.